Groups vying to open Texas charter schools turned in similar proposals. How similar? See for yourself.
As we reported Sunday, some nonprofit groups that want to start charter schools in Texas have turned in applications with identical or nearly identical passages. And the State Board of Education, which approves charters, has largely been okay with that. One now-former board member called it “being smart,” while a couple others considered it plagiarism. The head of the public integrity unit of the Travis County district attorney’s office said that such practices could be fraudulent.
This graphic from Sunday’s story focuses on the written summaries from public hearings that four charter applicants held last year. (Click here to see the complete hearing summaries, with some other similar passages marked.)
Here’s another example. Below are excerpts from four different charter school applications. Compass Academy in Odessa was approved in 2010. Legacy Preparatory in Dallas was approved in 2011. International Leadership of Texas was approved in 2012. iWin Preparatory in Terrell was submitted in 2012 and not approved, though organizers are trying again this year. Click on any of the boxes to see the pages in full, with notes of some other similarities.
